Lots and lots and lots of people slag off Powerpoint and if I’m being honest with you, none of their arguments stack up.
They say it’s a boring way to present … well sorry, but isn’t that more to do with the content they’ve written than the channel being used to express it?
They say that it forces you into a common approach … but how can a blank page do that? I mean, no one criticises A4 notepads for subliminally influencing how you approach your doodles.
I actually like Powerpoint.
Yes, LIKE IT!
For me, there is no other mass market tool that allows a formal presentation to be given to large amount of people in a simple and easy way.
The problem with Powerpoint … and the thing Microsoft should take on … is the fact people are just shit at presenting.
It’s not just that they cram tons and tons and tons of bullet points on every page … they don’t know when to stop.
Actually scrap that, most of the time it seems they don’t even know what they’re trying to achieve.
There’s no clarity, journey, clear thought process … their strategy seems to be to continually bash away at an increasingly uninterested audience with meaningless facts, figures and small type in the hope they will succumb to the pressure and agree with whatever they’re trying to flog.
‘Flog’ … that’s another issue.
How many times have I said you need to get someone to buy rather than try and sell?
It doesn’t matter how convincing you think you are, if you haven’t taken the time to understand what the audiences fundamental issues and challenges are, you’re not going to come up with something they’ll view as commercially valuable/viable.
‘View’ … that’s another thing.
If there’s one thing I absolutely detest, it’s when people read out exactly what is on their powerpoint slide.
Jesus, that’s almost as annoying as seeing a live band play their songs exactly as they originally recorded them … if I wanted that experience, I’d of stayed at home and listened to their album …
Too many people approach powerpoint presentations like they’re a formal document and yet they are absolutely different things.
A formal document goes into more detail because more often than not, you’re not there to be able to present the more intricate details … however when it’s a presentation, the powerpoint element should play a ‘supportive role’ to you, not be the lead player … which is why I treat powerpoint as being a visual accompaniment to the issues I’m talking about and then have a more detailed version available as the ‘leave behind’.
Does that mean more work?
Yeah – but only a little – and besides, hopefully the job has already been done by the time they ask for the document.
And yes, I believe this approach to presentations can be utilised by every industry – even media companies – because as much as they might think they have to show pages and pages of data, the fact is in the main, audiences want to see thought processes, insights and solutions, not the rating point for every Sunday night television program for the last 12 years!
To be honest I don’t use powerpoint all the time but when I do, I control it rather than it controlling me … which is why I’ve done pitch presentations that have lasted 1 slide upto 55 … however they’re always written with the client in mind because if you approach a presentation with the goal of showing how smart you are, you’re basically publicising you’re not that clever at all.
Just incase some people don’t understand what I mean … I’m not saying you only do what a client wants, I’m saying your presentation and response must address the fundamental issues and challenges the client has detailed to you or you don’t stand a chance of getting them to buy the interesting and exciting ideas/work you believe are going to make a big difference to them. And you. 🙂
So next time you’re writing a preso, think of it like a story – give it a beginning, middle and end – and when you get around to writing the thing up, remember it should be playing a ‘supporting role’ rather than a lead and it’s called powerpoint, not powerpoints.
[For those of you who can write a good preso [ie: you treat the software as if it was called GetToThePoint rather than FlimsyPoint] but panic when you have to deliver it, my post called Presentophobia may help a little]